We are pleased to announce the opening of our new Summer Institute website. Details about the new location at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon and information about courses and prerequisites for the new unified program, Meditation and Study in Union, can be found on the new website. Registration for review and prerequisite classes is now open. Summer Program registration will open in early spring.

Join us for Acharya Kelzang Wangdi’s fourth year of teachings on the Eighth Karmapa’s commentary for Vasubandhu’s Treasury of Higher Knowledge (Abhidharmakośa) in Boulder, Monday, Dec. 31, 2018 through Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019.

This course is an in-depth study of Abhidharmakośa – the seminal work of Buddhist Abhidharma tradition – based on the commentary by the Eight Karmapa, Mikyö Dorje (1507-1554). Abhidharmakośa consists of eight chapters. The first six chapters, taught in three previous retreats, cover topics of phenomenology (skandhas, āyatanas, dhātus); the truth of suffering; the outer vessel (the world) and its inner contents (sentient beings); and karma, from which the world and its beings arise; mental afflictions, as well as the path of relinquishing afflictions.

This time, Acharya Kelzang will be teaching the last two chapters, seven and eight, covering topics of wisdoms gained on the path, and absorptions from which the wisdoms arise. Acharya Kelzang will teach in Tibetan, with oral translation by Jules Levinson. The teachings will be presented in the format of an intensive two-week retreat.

The Summer Institute 2018 will be held from July 6 – August 2, 2018 in Bellingham, Washington! Join us for another summer of incredible teachings.

The two primary tracks at the Summer Institute are complementary and feed back into each other. The Shedra track emphasizes learning the crucial distinctions about mind and processes of consciousness – like a decoder key to the pith instructions for training on the path. The Gomdra track emphasizes meditative practice as the method to discover, experience, and integrate new possibilities for being, sanity, and wisdom. As learning and insight develop in the Shedra, this enhances meditative experience. As meditative experience deepens, more advanced studies become relevant and meaningful.

Teachers at the Summer Institute include:Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, leading master of the Kagyü & Nyingma lineages and founder of Nitartha Institute and Nalandabodhi.Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen, Professor of Buddhist Studies at Naropa University and head teacher at Nalandabodhi.Dr. Karl Brunnhölzl, translator and teacher at Nalandabodhi
… and many more eastern and western senior teachers & scholars!

The Buddhist science of pramāṇa, or ‘valid cognition,’ has been a key component of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist studies since the 5th century CE. The pramāṇa teachings explore the vast topics of how mind knows itself and its world, how trustworthy knowledge and experience can be ascertained, and how we may skillfully refine our ideas about these and related issues in dialogue with others.

During this semester-format course-offered in live, streaming, and on-demand formats-we will explore this rich philosophical tradition. The Indian source texts for the class will be the Compendium of Valid Cognition (Pramāṇasamuccaya) by Dignāga and the Commentary on Valid Cognition (Pramāṇavārttika) by Dharmakīrti. The Tibetan commentary (which will provide the framework for our exploration of the Indian texts) that we will refer to will be the 7th Karmapa, Chödrak Gyamtso’s Ocean of Texts on Reasoning (Rig-zhung Gyamtso), one of the most important works on pramāṇa in all of Tibetan scholarship. The main reference point for the course’s overall approach and points of emphasis will be the pramāṇa teachings given by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche and Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen at past Nitartha Institute summer programs.

The current course is envisioned as the first in a series of two courses on advanced pramāṇa studies. (The second course is yet to be scheduled.) The main topics considered in this first course will be the chapters from Ocean of Texts on Reasoning on direct perception (chapter 2) and establishing the Buddha as an authoritative source of knowledge (chapter 1). (The chapters will be taught in the order they were taught by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche at Nitartha Institute.)

Teaching sessions will be ninety minutes long and will occasionally include question-and-answer periods. Reading materials will be provided in advance of each class to registrants.

REGISTER ONLINE NOW (click here) for Exploring the Pramana Tradition at Nalanda West

INSTRUCTOR

The course will be taught by Mitra Tyler Dewar, a Buddhist teacher, translator, and writer who has been a member of the Nitartha Institute faculty since 2003. In 2005, he was appointed by Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche as a senior teacher (Mitra) of the Nalandabodhi community. He has served as an oral interpreter at Nitartha Institute since 2000, for teachings on pramāṇa, Madhyamaka, Abhidharma, Mind Only, tenet systems, and other topics, and has produced literary translations on a broad array of topics from the Buddhist textual and meditative traditions.

CLASS DATES

All classes listed are on Thursdays and run from 7pm to 8:30pm, Pacific Time. Classes will begin promptly at 7pm, Pacific Time*:

QUESTIONS?

Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche founded Nitartha Institute in 1996, under the guidance of Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche and Khenpo Tsültrim Gyamtso Rinpoche. The parent organization is Nitartha International, an educational organization dedicated to the preservation of Tibet’s heritage of religious and philosophical texts. Though the focus of our curriculum is the Kagyü and Nyingma understanding of the Dharma, the Institute upholds the importance of non-sectarianism and appreciation of the many forms of Buddhism. Students of any background are welcome and encouraged to attend—the Institute is open to all who are interested in deepening their study and practice of Buddhism.